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Horner Park To Honor Local Native American Roots Through Mound Project

By
Char Daston

Aug. 23, 2018, 3:32 PM UTC

This artist's rendering shows the planned effigy mound in Horner Park. The mound will be part of an outdoor museum of Native American history in Chicago.Chicago Public Art Group

This artist's rendering shows the planned effigy mound in Horner Park. The mound will be part of an outdoor museum of Native American history in Chicago.Chicago Public Art Group

Horner Park To Honor Local Native American Roots Through Mound Project

By
Char Daston

Aug. 23, 2018, 3:32 PM UTC

Horner Park may soon house an effigy mound, a small hill shaped like a coiled serpent in honor of Native American communities.

The sacred burial mound at Cahokia in western Illinois is still standing, but all Chicago-area mounds have been destroyed, including one at the site of what is now a Brown Line station in Lakeview.

The mound will feature native grasses, and will be part of an outdoor museum dedicated to indigenous history.

Local artist Santiago X joins theMorning Shift to discuss the process and mission behind building an effigy mound.

A Mound Stomping Ceremony

Construction of the mound began with a mound stomping ceremony by local tribes, shown here:

The next mound stomping ceremony will be held Sept. 15 in Horner Park. The event is open to the public.

The Significance of Building a Mound

Santiago X:Mounds haven’t been built in North America since the founding of the United States….Taking us out of the past tense and this archaeological speak was a motivation behind this project--to really empower contemporary indigeneity throughout the landscape, and really give us a tangible place.

The Mound Will Include Augmented Reality

SantiagoX:A lot of people think that mounds are full or pottery shards and skulls...but we’re trying to transcend that notion, and we’re gonna put digital artifacts onto this mound. This mound is gonna be augmented by phone apps you have in your hand, where you can scan the symbology of the mound embedded on river rocks throughout the site, and pull up digital archives of how the mound was constructed, and the history of the area. [The apps will be] potentially even open-source, where people can contribute their own memories of this mound.